We’ve had fantastic weather in recent weeks, and exceptional reef fishing as well. We’ve been getting lots of pearl perch, snapper, hussar and Moses perch, and we’ve also been getting some nice red emperor out wide.

Interestingly, in summer the reefies like pearl perch and snapper seem to only want bait (usually fished on a paternoster) rather than artificials. In the wintertime we tend to get the bigger specimens on plastics, but at the moment they couldn’t be less interested in softies.

We had a really good run of spotted and Spanish mackerel just before Christmas; on a few days they were that thick that you could just about walk on them. The action has since gone a bit quiet, with the mackerel having followed the bait schools out wider. We’re expecting them to return very soon though. Coming into February the macks tend to hang on structure.

The entire beach is fishing really well for summer whiting, and late in the evening anglers have been picking up some chopper tailor at Inskip Point. Some quality flathead are also turning up in catches at Double Island Point on unweighted blue pilchards.

The beach fishing in February should continue to be pretty good for whiting.